The turn of the year already has warm weather fans eagerly looking ahead to spring.

Yet in some pockets of Gastonia, messy reminders of autumn are still piled up on the side of the street.

Leaf collection has again proven to be a long, drawn-out battle this season, prompting local taxpayers to grouse about exactly what their money is going toward. But city leaders say the good news is they’re poised to get the problem under control very soon.

“We lost some leaf collection time due to the holidays,” said Assistant City Manager Flip Bombardier. “As of right now, I feel we are very close to getting caught up. We have just a week or two left.”

Gastonia’s efforts to conserve cash have led it to adopt a leaf collection policy that’s based more around the tortoise than the hare. The idea is that the job will eventually get done, if over a longer period.

Rather than hiring year-round staff to provide a service that’s only needed about three months, the city directs its regular solid waste collection crews to collect leaves.

“But with the volume of leaves that fall, it takes more time,” Bombardier said.

Paying existing employees occasional overtime to attack the problem is cheaper than creating more year-round, full-time positions, which would come with costly health benefits, Bombardier said.

The city’s leaf collection responsibilities tend to kick in around late October, as residents begin raking the crispy, fallen foliage and piling it up by the street. There they tend to stay for some time.

In winter 2012, the city was still collecting leaves as late as February and March, according to some residents.

Even when crews begin to catch up, a powerful storm or period of high winds can knock a lot more leaves down at once across the city, Bombardier said.

Timing can mean everything. The city may collect leaves in a given neighborhood one morning, and residents there will put out more leaves a day or two later. And there they will sit … and sit.

“During a season when we get a lot of leaves falling, it could be several weeks before we get back to that route,” said Bombardier.

Residents often complain about piles of leaves blowing into storm drains and sewers, or simply cluttering up the landscape. Bombardier said disgruntled calls to the city have decreased in recent weeks, but he is continuing to ask for understanding.

“We just ask for our customers to have patience during these times when we know we’re behind, but we’re just trying to minimize cost,” he said.

You can reach Michael Barrett at 704-869-1826 or twitter.com/GazetteMike.